Andy Murray left downbeat after thrashing Gilles Simon at the Australian Open

Andy Murray has not dropped a set at Melbourne Park but took little joy from his clobbering of shattered 14th seed Simon.

The Frenchman was reduced to a staggering wreck in the closing stages and Britain’s US Open champion and third seed did little more than go through the motions to put him out of his misery 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in just 95 minutes.

World no.16, Simon, had to undergo almost four hours of treatment after his draining win over compatriot Gael Monfils on Saturday, but he still managed to hold his own in the opening exchanges.

However, the lack of power in his serve handed Murray an early break in the first, and the Frenchman couldn’t keep himself in it at 5-3 down, giving the Scot the set in 36 minutes.

After that, an exhausted Simon could do little more than stick out his racket and hope as he slumped to his tenth straight loss to the Scot.

Murray lamented the lack of competition at his post-match press conference and said: ‘It was kind of tough. A tough situation for both players – more obviously for him. It didn’t feel that competitive.’

The world No. 3, who next faces another Frenchman in surprise package Jeremy Chardy, added: ‘At this stage of a grand slam you’re geed up and prepared for a tough battle.

France’s Gilles Simon receives treatment (Picture: AFP)

‘That’s why it becomes hard because the emotions aren’t quite into it. You’re not necessarily feeling pressure but you’re wanting to try to finish the match as quickly as possible.’

It was indeed hard to gauge the performance given his opponent’s limitations but Murray will be pleased to have made it this far without overly exerting himself.

‘Obviously no-one knew how Gilles would be. He is one of the best movers on tour and clearly was struggling with his movement today. Grand Slams are so physical these days and it is tough.’

On his quarter-final opponent Jeremy Chardy, he added: ‘He’s had two very good wins here, including beating [Juan Martin] Del Potro, and I lost against him the last time I played him in Cincinnati so it will be a tough match.’

The match was in stark contrast to title rival Novak Djokovic’s five-hour struggle against Stanislas Wawrinka on Sunday and the Scot will be hoping his relatively easy route through the bottom half of the draw will prove an advantage in the challenges which lie ahead.

For Simon, there was only the question of what might have been had he been in better shape.

‘It was a painful hour and a half on the court. But Andy is a very good player anyway so it’s always very hard to beat him,’ he said. ‘Without being 100 per cent you have almost no chance.’